Following yesterday's news that William Lynch Jr., the chief executive of Barnes & Noble, resigned after a recent rough patch at B&N (that's putting it mildly), another big rumor is picking up steam today.

In what could be one of the biggest moves imaginable for the Nook business empire, the entire unit may soon be acquired by Microsoft. According to published reports Tuesday, Microsoft may cough up north of $1 billion to acquire all of the digital assets of Nook Media.

Even though Barnes & Noble quickly gained a sizable piece of the e-book market, it was not enough to ward off Amazon. And as black-and-white e-readers gave way to multifunctional color tablets, Barnes & Noble found itself competing unsuccessfully against companies many times its size, like Amazon and Apple, that have had technology in their DNA from the start.

Of course, we've long known that the software giant has an interest in B&N. Last year, Microsoft invested $300 million into Barnes & Noble's Nook business.

Internal documents obtained by TechCrunch in May also indicated that Microsoft “would redeem preferred units in Nook Media, which also includes a college book division, leaving it with the digital operation — e-books, as well as Nook e-readers and tablets.”

More than 10 million Nook devices have been sold to date.

For now, neither Microsoft or B&N have offered official comment on the rumor.

This would be the end of B&N though. Look at all of the other major booksellers who didn't have a reader (Borders, Walden Books, etc.). They are now out of business, without a digital book store and devices, B&N would suffer the same fate.

This would be the end of B&N though. Look at all of the other major booksellers who didn't have a reader (Borders, Walden Books, etc.). They are now out of business, without a digital book store and devices, B&N would suffer the same fate.

Um.... You ever heard of windows 8 tablets? Microsoft wants its own book store.